{"id":7022,"date":"2021-03-25T16:04:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T16:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/?p=7022"},"modified":"2021-03-25T16:04:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T16:04:11","slug":"get-to-grips-with-the-sustainable-farming-incentive-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/get-to-grips-with-the-sustainable-farming-incentive-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to grips with the new Sustainable Farming Incentive Pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By George Peart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our exit from the EU\u2019s Common Agricultural Policy means that huge changes are coming to UK agricultural funding. Most notably the government now wants to pay you, the farmer, for providing public goods. This includes, but is not limited to, carbon storage, increased biodiversity and flood risk reductions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These concepts haven\u2019t yet been put into practice, making it difficult to evaluate the impact they\u2019ll have on farm. However, the rollout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Pilot<\/a> is set to change that. Whether you feel excited by the shakeup, or fearful, the SFI pilot provides the very first chance to see the new systems in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It provides an opportunity for you to help shape policy over the coming years and learn to make the most of future environmental schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the new Sustainable Farming Incentive Pilot?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Sustainable Farming Incentive was originally a part of DEFRA\u2019s over-arching Environmental Land Management Scheme<\/strong> (ELMS). ELMS has now been split into three separate schemes: The Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. The SFI is defined by DEFRA as \u2018open to all\u2019 and \u2018a straightforward way for farmers to get paid for producing public goods\u2019. It\u2019s been highlighted as the base level of all three schemes and the most viable option to begin this process with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SFI is open to farmers in England<\/strong> who are current recipients of the Basic Payments Scheme<\/strong> and are registered on the Rural Payments Agency system<\/strong>. A key part of this eligibility is that the land<\/strong> you are thinking of entering must not<\/strong> be part of any other payment schemes, e.g. Countryside Stewardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot will pay farmers for delivering environmental benefits using the land they enter into the SFI scheme. The public goods that you could sell within the scheme need to fit into one or more of eight different areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n